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Foods that Pack a Punch!

Sometimes, another list of foods you should be eating, but aren’t, can be...well...annoying. Many healthy foods can be tough to find, and the last thing you want to be is a confused health-minded shopper. Don’t lose hope just yet: There are some very basic foods that will help you live healthier and keep you from running all around town for groceries. Tune in to these foods, recommended by nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden, Ph.D, C.N.S.

1. Beets: Sure, they're not your favorite vegetables at Thanksgiving dinner, paling in comparison to a juicy turkey or hearty stuffing, but take a closer look at what Bowden calls “red spinach,” and you will find its natural pigments are serious cancer fighters. Try tossing raw, grated beets onto a salad; heating them zaps their antioxidant power.

2. Cabbage: Another potent cancer fighter. Top your next sandwich with shredded cabbage and you’ll have yourself a satisfying, crunchy meal.

3. Swiss chard: Carrots aren’t the only veggie that can help protect your eyes. This leafy green packs carotenoids that help strengthen aging eyes. Sauté these greens in olive oil and your peepers will feel like new.

4. Cinnamon: Sprinkle some spice on your next bowl of oats and it will help control your blood sugar and cholesterol.

5. Sardines: These omega-3-packed fishies are so high in vitamins—think calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, copper—that Bowden calls them “health food in a can.” Eat them plain or try them on toast with dijon mustard.

6. Pumpkin seeds: Snack on these seeds and you'll be eating the most nutritious part of Cinderella’s carriage. Pumpkin seeds boast magnesium, a mineral that has been associated with lowering risk for early death.

Tried any of these? If so, we’re curious—what did you like or dislike? [The New York Times]

lakotadrummer -- More power to you! I still have not mastered a healthy relationship with beets! (;
kattaylor -- I have heard before that sardines can totally rock your health world, so you ought to give yourself a pat on the back! I have yet to give 'em a try, but I am thinking I should just take the plunge! But cinnamon? Gotta love it!

I love to eat sardines out of the can with crackers some times but usually just by them selves. and I always use cinnamon when i do oatmeal and sometime into pancakes. but the others I can not quite get them down.

Very interesting, butterflygirl. That really makes you wonder just HOW healthy cabbage is, huh? I laughed when I saw #1 ... I always try to avoid beets (they just never really appealed to me), but now I really may just have to give in! (:

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